


The Nature of the Beast

by keepyourpantsongohan



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationships, Drama, Friendship, Humour, Jinchuriki Soulmates, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Soulmate Attribute Swap, Third Shinobi War, This Is A Weird Fic And If I Have To Live With It So Do You, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 06:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17678396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepyourpantsongohan/pseuds/keepyourpantsongohan
Summary: Kakashi says, “Nothing,” at the same time Rin explains, “It's a skin reaction I can’t find in any medical text.”Obito’s eyes widen behind his goggles. “So you found a new disease? That’s amazing, Rin! Can you name it after me?”Kakashi shakes his head vehemently and declares, “Absolutely not.”(Soulmate Physical Attribute Swap AU: The more you deny your feelings, the more fate tells you otherwise. Unfortunately for Kakashi, both of his soulmates are destined to become jinchūriki.)





	The Nature of the Beast

Minato has always known that he’d eventually have to deal with his kids’ bodies changing. Genin teams are usually formed with early adolescents. He’d prepared himself for this. Kushina had made fun of him for it, but he’d even read books about it in the weeks leading up to academy graduation, to refresh himself on the trials of growing up.

No book prepares him for the day that he ruffles Kakashi’s hair and feels a set of horns.

They are tiny bumps, white and barely discernible in the mass of his spiky hair. Minato’s first thought is an injury, but they appear to be more solid than mere swelling. They’re hard, and touching them not dissimilar to Minato placing his hand on bare bone.

Kakashi seems to notice them at the same time he does. His normally aloof expression slides into something like panic.

“Kakashi?” Minato asks, concerned.

“It’s nothing,” says Kakashi quickly. It’s the least convincing lie he’s heard come out of Kakashi’s mouth.

If Minato didn’t think it was crazy, he’d swear the horns grow longer just before Kakashi escapes his grasp.

* * *

It’s not like Minato never had issues as a young man. He’s always considered himself fairly in tune with his emotions, but even he’d been thrown when he suddenly switched hair colours with his beautiful classmate from Uzushio.

Though, if he’s being honest, he’d liked the red hair. It had disappointed him a little when the all-over crimson had faded so only the hair hanging next to his face remained so colourful. But soul traits tend to appear more strongly in those who are young and unsettled, and Minato has never been able to deny his affection for Kushina.

Still, _horns?_ Minato can’t figure out what they could mean for Kakashi. They can’t possibly be a soul trait, unless Kakashi’s soulmate isn’t human. There isn’t really a precedent for that.

It’s possible they’re the product of a kekkei genkai. Looking to Konoha’s archives tells him that the nomadic Kaguya clan have the ability to manipulate bones. Minato doesn’t know much about Kakashi’s mother, so he can’t rule out a latent inheritance. The hardened bone-like plates he notice peeking over the top of Kakashi’s arm guards seem to serve as support for this theory.

What throws him off entirely are the scales.

Lately, Kakashi has been trying his best to comprehend the steps behind the rasengan. _Containment_ isn’t an ability easily compatible with Kakashi’s lightning chakra affinity, so he’s been quite stubborn about accepting the company of his teammates while he works on it.

But Obito has never been one to accept Kakashi’s reclusive nature. He interrupts Kakashi’s meditation by snapping one of straps that usually holds his tanto in place. “Bakashi! Sensei gave us permission to break for lunch, and Rin wants you to join us.”

“I’m busy,” says Kakashi, without looking back at him. If it didn’t concern him so much, Minato might be impressed by how much disdain he conveys in two words.

Obito crosses his arms. “What, you don’t want to spend any time with us outside of training or missions?”

“Pretty much,” says Kakashi, shrugging.

Like always, Obito rises to Kakashi’s bait. This time, he grabs Kakashi by the front of his shirt, hoisting him so they’re eye to eye. “I don’t like your attitude, Kakashi.”

“I don’t like you,” Kakashi replies. His hands curl into fists at his sides.

Minato thinks he should call their attention to his presence and intervene, but he is suddenly distracted. The way Obito is holding onto Kakashi makes the hem of his shirt rise. On Kakashi’s side, he can spot a handful of white shining scales. Unlike when skin dries out, these scales look well-integrated, as if they belong on his skin.

Adolescence definitely isn’t like he remembers it, Minato thinks, with an edge of hysteria.

* * *

Minato can’t help but express his worry to Kushina. “Kakashi’s growth is... alarming,” he tells her, when they are lying in bed one evening.

“Kakashi has always been quicker than the other kids,” Kushina says, patting Minato on the chest hard enough to knock the wind out of him. “You knew that when you became his sensei.”

“No, I mean Kakashi’s _growths,_ ” says Minato, distressed. “The horns are becoming visible even through his hair now.”

Kushina considers this, and then loudly declares, “He’s a teenager!”

“He has _scales,_ Kushina.”

His wife shrugs. “He’s not the strangest kid in this village. Look at Chōza’s boys!” When Minato is still too rattled to respond to her grin, it fades. “These new changes... Are they hurting him?” she asks seriously.

“No...” Minato acknowledges, feeling a little bit of the unease lift reluctantly. “But I don’t know what’s causing them, or if they’re going to get worse.”

“Then figure it out,” Kushina orders with a sharp poke to his cheek. “You’re a genius too, aren’t you?”

He smiles, catching her hand. “I’m not the smartest person in this room.”

“That’s right you’re not, mister,” Kushina says, returning his warm gaze. She overlaps their fingers. “So go do some research, or I really will be coming for that Hokage title you want so badly.”

“Yes, Kushina-sama,” Minato replies teasingly. His mind turns back to Kakashi, and all the different scenarios that might arise next if he doesn’t figure this out soon. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this issue.”

“Might not be as much of a problem as you think,” She throws her other arm around his middle, calming him even as he wonders what Kakashi would look like with webbed feet. “There was a week when we were twelve that you had whiskers, y’know.”

Pouting, Minato replies, “That was a special case.”

* * *

Rin can see that something is bothering Kakashi. Even if she weren’t a medic, and always scanning her teammates for injuries, both boys are subject to her thoughtful nature. She notices the growing stress in the line of Kakashi’s shoulders far before she has to treat the injury on his tailbone.

As Kakashi lays on his stomach before her with his lower back exposed, she sighs and says, “I’m going to need you to lower your pants a little.”

Kakashi hesitates. “Is that really necessary?”

Rin raises an eyebrow at him and holds back a laugh. “I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t.”

Sighing, Kakashi does as asked. As more skin is revealed, beside his wound, Rin also notices a white patch of flesh on his rear that’s even paler than the rest of him. It’s a different texture than the surrounding tissue, and interrupts the line of the scratch in its smooth expanse. “How long has this part of your skin looked like this, Kakashi?” she asks, frowning.

Kakashi shrugs from his position on the ground. “A week ago, after our previous mission. Why?”

“Because,” she admits, reddening a little, “I’ve been having the same symptom in the same place.”

He pulls up his pants and sits up, ignoring Rin’s protests as she tells him she isn’t done healing him yet. “Do you think we caught it while in Iwa? Is it something contagious?”

“Is what contagious?” asks Obito, strolling over to their spot in the campground.

Kakashi says, “Nothing,” at the same time Rin explains, “It's a skin reaction I can’t find in any medical text.”

Obito’s eyes widen behind his goggles. “So you found a new disease? That’s amazing, Rin! Can you name it after me?”

Kakashi shakes his head vehemently and declares, “Absolutely not.”

“Maybe,” says Rin with a small smile, nudging Kakashi.

“They’ll remember the name Obitosis far and wide,” Obito says, grinning widely.

Minato arrives just in time, because Rin suspects Kakashi is about to tackle Obito to the ground.

* * *

It doesn’t take Rin long to figure out that there’s something amiss. Kakashi has removed his mask several times in front of her for treatment, so she’s seen the sharp incisors that now fit uncomfortably in her own mouth and the mole that’s settled be to the right of Obito’s lips.

“Obito has a _pimple,_ ” Kakashi insists, when she broaches the subject with him. “And the Inuzuka have sharp teeth too.”

“It still seems an awfully strange coincidence,” Rin says skeptically. Kakashi’s uniform is looking bulkier lately, and she wonders if his various skin conditions have been getting worse beneath the fabric. “How’s your Obitosis?”

Kakashi grimaces so strongly it’s visible through the cloth over his mouth. “We’re not calling it that,” he mutters. “The whitened skin and scaling is strange enough, but whatever’s on my arms restricts my movement.”

Rin reaches out for his arm, and he grumbles, but allows her to pull the armour away from him. “This structure doesn’t feel like skin anymore,” she observes carefully.

“What does it feel like?”

Biting her lip, Rin offers, “The shell of a turtle?”

He stares down at his forearm as if to will the transformation away. “What does _that_ mean?”

“It’s a different category of condition than Obitosis!” she says. The healer in her can’t help but grow fascinated with the development. “Maybe I’ll name this one after me. Rinitis?”

Kakashi looks like he’s about to cry.

* * *

“Kakashi, we need to talk about this,” says Minato, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Kakashi startles. He’s grown very averse to being touched since Rin’s last examination of his Obitosis. He’d come away from the conversation whispering, _‘First white, now purple? Why is it_ rectangular? _’_ Minato hadn’t been able to pry any answers out of him, and Rin had cited medic-patient confidentiality, but he’s certain Kakashi’s close to losing the last vestiges of stability he has.

“I’d rather not,” says Kakashi finally, shaking him off.

Minato sighs. He knew this wouldn’t be easy. But he’s settled on a few solid theories for Kakashi’s problems, and he intends to help him through this time. “Growing up is tough for all of us,” he begins slowly. “It was tough for me too.”

Kakashi’s hands hug at his hair, and as he does, the horns brought into relief against his scalp. Currently, they’re pressed against his head, reminding Minato of a frightened rabbit. “It couldn’t have been anything like this, Minato-sensei.”

“I know your body’s going through a lot of changes—”

“Understatement,” Kakashi mutters. He glares in the direction that Obito and Rin wandered off to after their meeting, as if trying to curse them for not experiencing half of his turmoil.

“But it’s actually a beautiful thing,” Minato continues, as if Kakashi had not interrupted him. “Once your emotions settle down, you’ll find that your body isn’t so bad. You might even like it.”

Kakashi’s eyes widen. “Sensei,” the boy says, horrified. “Are you trying to talk to me about puberty?”

“I was talking about your kekkei genkai,” says Minato, blinking. Scratching his head, he asks, “Would you like to talk about puberty? I have books.”

Taking three hasty steps back, Kakashi shakes his head. “I know how puberty works, sensei.” His voice cracks in distress as he says it, and it’s only Minato’s knowledge of how fragile Kakashi’s young psyche is at this juncture that prevents the man from laughing. Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi adds, “What do you mean, my kekkei genkai?”

“Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed the... horns,” says Minato, unable to think of a more delicate way to phrase it.

Kakashi inclines his head in interest. “You think it has to do with my bloodline? My father never had a condition like this.”

“And your mother?” asks Minato quietly. Though they’ve exchanged words about Sakumo a number of times, Kakashi has never volunteered stories, good or bad, about his other parent.

“I... don’t know,” admits Kakashi. He looks towards the tree line. “She died years ago, and tou-san didn’t talk about her much. I guess it’s possible.”

“The Kaguya clan engaged in battle with Konoha during the Nidaime Hokage’s era. It was their ability to manipulate their own bone that necessitated one of Nidaime-sama’s most severe techniques. It wasn’t uncommon for them to have bone protruding out of parts of their bodies.” As he speaks, one of his hands comes to rest on one of the peaks still visible in Kakashi’s mass of hair.

“They were enemies?” says Kakashi, with what Minato is sure is a disapproving frown under his mask. He shakes off Minato’s hold.

Minato sighs, staring down at his pupil. “Enemies are a funny thing, Kakashi. We fight people because we must, but that doesn’t mean we can’t eventually reconcile our differences. The Uchiha were once enemies of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage. And now they’re our friends.”

 _“Your_ friends, maybe,” mutters Kakashi.

“Your friends too,” Minato says pointedly. He smiles, just a little. “Even if you’re too stubborn to admit it right now.”

Kakashi’s immediate reply of, “I’m _not_ stubborn,” is far too much for Minato to be expected not to laugh. He doubles over, wheezing, and hopes his indignant student will forgive him tomorrow.

* * *

“It’s a kekkei genkai,” Kakashi tells Rin, appearing at her window as she sits at her desk with yet another medical text. “Sensei said so. The rest of it is just a passing illness we caught in Iwa.”

She opens her mouth, and then closes it. “If you say so,” she says, with a silent shake of her shoulders.

Kakashi gets the feeling she doesn’t believe him. He ignores it in favour of moving onto his real news. “They approved my jōnin exam for next week,” he tells her.

Rin’s responding smile makes him want to push his chest out in pride. The gesture reminds him embarrassingly of their other teammate, so he aborts the motion halfway through, nearly losing his balance on the windowsill. “Congratulations,” she replies earnestly.

Kakashi’s face feels warm. “I haven’t passed yet,” he reminds her, attempting to regain his footing on more than one plane.

“But you will,” says Rin with a knowing look. “And I’ll congratulate you again then.”

He turns his face, hoping it doesn’t give his grin away. “Obito’s going to be annoyed.”

Rin leans forward in her seat and reaches out a hand to adjust the strap on Kakashi’s holster. “Maybe,” she concedes. “But he’ll congratulate you too.”

* * *

_Kakashi. Look after Rin for me._

_Don’t worry._

_Obito, he loved you._

_You should know how I feel about you._

_I’m sorry I couldn’t make it in time._

* * *

Reluctantly, the Uchiha agree to let Kakashi keep Obito’s eye. That much is a wonder in and of itself.

Obito may not have been beloved of his clan, but it seems there are some laws that are above even their possessiveness over their kekkei genkai. It certainly doesn't hurt that Minato is named Hokage, but more than that, there was something sacred in Obito's sacrifice, to his people. Giving Kakashi his sharingan had apparently been a declaration of untouchability. 

It doesn’t escape Kakashi that Obito’s still protecting him, even after he’d failed him so terribly at Kannabi bridge.

There are drawbacks. He finds his stamina drained easily whenever the sharingan active, a trait he cannot afford during a war. Although his time on training grounds helps to build up his endurance, it isn’t enough. So Kakashi decides to try to force the sharingan to become part of his natural eye usage, and spends a day with his most morbid and precious gift on display.

He has no mission, so the first thing that Obito’s eye witnesses is him cooking an omelette for breakfast. He’ll have to go the market later. It’s strange, to be so conscious of his own movements, but he thinks it helps him make a better meal.

When he changes his into his uniform, his keen eye observes that white flesh that covered the left half of his backside has retreated. _Obitosis_ , says a suspiciously loud voice in his mind.

The marks on the other parts of his body still remain, and he doesn’t know what to make of it. He supposes, prodding the protrusions from his head and arms, people have gotten used to him looking a little weird by now.

He wanders first to where he’s been spending all of his mornings lately. He doesn’t have an offering, so he clasps his hands and bows his head briefly to the memorial stone. “Hi, Obito.”

Unsurprisingly, there’s no answer, but he continues. “I’m trying to learn how to use your gift. The kekkei genkai thing? Yours is much harder than whatever I have, or had. I don’t know. It’s important, but also a nuisance. Kind of like you.” He pauses, and chuckles without much humour. “Sorry, it’s a habit. Most people are probably nicer when they come here.”

“We miss you,” he says quietly. He lowers his voice further, like he’s telling a secret. “I hope you’re getting a good look of me being an idiot down here. That’s probably why you gave me this eye, huh?”

He wonders if the breeze sounds like laughter anywhere else in the village.

* * *

“It’s a little unsettling,” Genma tells him, when they cross paths in the market. “It’s like you’re poised for battle.”

Kakashi shrugs. “We’re at war. We should always be ready to fight.”

Genma snorts, and tosses him an apple from his bag. “Spend some more time with Rin, would you? You need to lighten up.”

Although Rin transplanted the eye, Kakashi hesitates to force her to look at it. Obito was her friend for longer than he has been either of theirs. As it happens, he doesn’t get much of a choice, because she runs into him as he’s heading back to his apartment.

“Kakashi,” she greets, and then: “Is there something wrong with your eye?”

“I’m endurance training,” says Kakashi. And he certainly feels the strain the sharingan is putting on his body, even just standing around. He is far too aware of people moving in his periphery, of the mother bird feeding her young in the tree behind Rin, of every detail of Rin’s face.

 _It’s a nice face,_ he thinks stupidly.

With a wistful smile, Rin replies, “I suppose it would help getting used to the sensory overload off the battlefield. How are you finding it?”

Kakashi has a difficult time replying because he’s still busy looking at her face. Because, with his sharingan active, he can see all too clearly that her canines are _his_ canines, just a tad bit sharper than an Inuzuka’s, and the mole by her mouth is indeed the same one by his own.

 _Oh no,_ thinks Kakashi. He questions if he’s picked up more than just the sharingan from Obito.

 _You should know how I feel about you,_ someone says in his head, a declaration more than a memory. He’s possessed by a strange urge to laugh.

He takes too long to reply, because Rin’s eyes narrow in concern as she repeats, “Kakashi? How are you finding it?”

“Birds,” says Kakashi, desperate to think about anything else.

“Birds?” Rin repeats, confused.

“There are four birds in that tree behind you,” says Kakashi, and then _shunshins_ away like an absolute fool.

* * *

Kakashi is a problem solver. And, he’s discovered, the best way to solve some problems is to ignore them and hope they go away.

(Of course, that hasn’t helped with the horns, or his _Rinitis_ _—_ a name which grows more ironic by the day—but he’s still praying for those ones.)

At first, he tries not looking at Rin, but that proves to be a mistake. In absence of seeing her face, his brain learns to fill in the gaps, and his imagination is not quite an ally in the war against his feelings. He tries to think of Obito whenever his mind strays too far, which instead raises a handful more questions, particularly when he starts thinking of both of them at once.

He gets so desperate to distract himself that he faces Gai in competition without any of the usual reluctance. Oddly, he finds himself liking it well enough that it becomes a part of his routine. The first time he issues a challenge of his own, Gai shakes him like a carbonated drink in joy.

When he can’t do that, he reads. He finds it’s too hard to keep his mind on jutsu at times like this, so he tries fiction. It’s surprisingly engrossing to focus on someone else’s heart rather than his own.

He starts carrying all sorts of books with him, even when he trains. Splitting his attention helps. If Minato notices him carrying the texts across the village, he doesn’t say much. (The one notable exception being when Jiraiya supplies his reading material, and Minato tries valiantly to get Kakashi interested in any other text, even his more advanced scrolls.)

Because he keeps himself so purposefully occupied, it’s not until his next two-man mission that he sees Rin at all.

He wonders why his gloves don’t get this sweaty when he trains. There’s something decidedly unfair about the whole thing.

As a jōnin, Kakashi is able to lead this mission on his own. It’s even one below their abilities, a simple investigation into a border skirmish. Kakashi knows this is an effort to give them time to adjust to their loss, but he also knows that with the war still going on, his time away from the front lines is running out.

“He’s trying to protect us too much,” says Rin, when they are resting for the night. “Not just you and me, but our classmates too. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a mission of importance. The older shinobi are starting to notice.”

Kakashi nods. “He can’t keep this up for much longer. We’re needed elsewhere.”

“I’m glad, though,” Rin says, taking Kakashi off-guard. She hastens to clarify, “Not about being benched, but about being given this mission. We won’t be assigned to the same units on the front anymore, so it’s nice… to see you.”

“I’m not much to look at,” says Kakashi quickly.

Rin raises her eyebrow at him, propping herself up to meet his eyes. “Since when are you so modest?”

“New philosophy,” Kakashi says, pressing his face into his bed roll. “I’m thinking of becoming a monk.”

His teammate laughs, and then says, “Sorry. I’m just not sure you’d be very good at it.”

While his stomach flips without his permission, Kakashi privately agrees.

* * *

Butterflies, as it turns out, are not the primary cause for concern with Kakashi’s stomach, because when he wakes up, he finds his shirt has ridden up. It would hardly bother him normally. Even as ridiculous as his body has been inside and out, he’s not as reserved as he used to be. What ultimately causes a surge of panic are the thick lines scrawled across his abdomen that hadn’t been there the night before.

“Fūinjutsu…?” he murmurs, yanking his shirt out of the way.

Rin opens her eyes. “Kakashi,” she says blearily. “Is everything alright?”

“I don’t know,” he says, disquieted. “I think someone tried to perform fūinjutsu on me.”

“Let me examine you,” Rin offers, reaching out a hand glowing with yin chakra.

He catches her by the wrist, shaking his head. “It wouldn’t do any good. Fūinjutsu isn’t something that can be healed. I don’t need a medic, I need a seals expert.”

Rin frowns, but she lowers her arm. “Then we have to cancel the mission. Whatever this is could be a danger to you or the people here. Staying here would do us more harm than good.”

After one frowning moment, Kakashi nods. “I’ll get sensei to check me over. He’ll know what to do.”

He summons Pakkun and Bull to ensure that there’s no one cloaking their presence in the area, and to send word to Konoha.

Kakashi reflects silently that he’s getting all too used to waking up looking different than when he went to bed.

If Kakashi and Rin are on edge, it’s nothing compared to the face that Minato makes when he sees the seal. He ushers Rin out of the office, and calls Kushina away from training to inspect him.

“A seal like this isn’t made for a simple destructive jutsu,” she says, prodding Kakashi’s stomach and looking angry. “It’s for something much more powerful.”

“Like what?”

Minato and Kushina exchange a look which gives Kakashi no comfort. “I’m going to try something,” she says. With a crease between her brows, she adds, “This may hurt a little.”

Kakashi breathes out through gritted teeth when Kushina presses down on his stomach. Her warning wasn’t enough by half. His insides burn where she’s touching him.

When Kakashi’s eyes are watering and his knees are shaking, Kushina moves her hand away. “I’m done now,” she tells him gently. “It can’t be what I was thinking, because my chakra definitely would’ve caused a stronger reaction.”

“I think it was plenty strong,” Kakashi grumbles, rubbing a hand over his skin.

This time, Minato is the one to move forward. “Let me try,” he says, crouching down like Kakashi is still six years old. Minato’s hand doesn’t burn him like Kushina’s, but it still feels odd. _Someone else’s chakra always will,_ Kakashi observes.

When nothing happens, Minato tries scrawling different sealing tags, with Kushina’s guidance. Each one has no effect, and the lines on their faces deepen.  

“It’s empty,” Minato says, clearly perturbed. “I’ve tried every possible test we can think of. Somehow, someone managed to get close enough to you to a seal on you. A seal made so poorly it’d be best to assume it was meant to break. But there’s nothing inside of it. For all intents and purposes, it’s no more than a tattoo.”

“This isn’t how I imagined my first tattoo,” Kakashi mutters under his breath.

“I never imagined you getting any tattoos at this age,” Minato retorts as if out of habit. “Much less one given to you this way.”

“I’ll make sure to consult you before the next one,” Kakashi sighs.

Minato looks to the window, and it’s a little embarrassing for Kakashi to watch Kushina’s hand slip around his waist in comfort. “I’m going to modify it,” he announces, looking back at Kakashi. I don’t know why it’s there, but I don’t trust its maker. Even if there’s nothing inside it, it’ll give me peace of mind to know it can’t be used to harm you.”

Kushina’s grasp shifts from Minato to Kakashi, and crushing him against her chest in a hug, she tells him, “You’re going to be fine, Kakashi.”

“I hate when adults say that,” he tries to say, but it’s muffled against her shirt.

* * *

“Empty?” Rin repeats.

“That’s what sensei says. I don’t know what it means. Maybe someone was trying to put something in it, but we woke up before they had the chance.” He sits down next to Rin at the pond. This view makes for one of the better training fields. “A hasty retreat would explain why their work was so sloppy. Maybe they erased their scent so Bull couldn’t track them.”

Rin grabs a stone and makes it skip across the water. “I don’t like it.”

“Neither does Minato-sensei. But there isn’t much we can do about it. We can add it to my list of strange but harmless ailments.” He gestures broadly at his own body.

That brings out a smile. “Have you finally grown fond of the horns?”

Kakashi shrugs. “Minato-sensei panics whenever they move, and that’s pretty funny to watch.”

“How’s the rest of you?”

Sighing, he skips a stone to avoid answering. It matches her throw. When it becomes clear Rin will wait out his silence, he tells her, “I’d probably pass a medical evaluation, if that’s what you mean.”

“You know it’s not. It’s been months now. We haven’t talked about it.” The look in Rin’s eyes leaves no doubt for what she’s talking about. Kakashi wonders if she resents him for taking her friend away.

“I didn’t think it would be fair of me to bring it up,” Kakashi admits.

Absorbing this, Rin purses her lips at him. It must’ve been the wrong thing to say. “He was your friend too,” she counters.

He shrugs again. “Only at the end. I don’t know if that counts for much.”

In his periphery, he can see Rin turning her gaze to the clouds. “It counted for a lot with Obito.”

Kakashi looks at her, surprised. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you say his name since that day.”

She hums, giving him a pointed stare. “You’d hear it more if you weren’t avoiding me,” she says, causing him to flush.

Kakashi doesn’t bother to lie. “I’m trying to make things easier for us,” he says finally.

Rin leans her head on his shoulder. He can tell she’s rolling her eyes when she speaks. “Let me know how that works out.”

* * *

Notwithstanding Minato’s many misgivings, desperation calls Kakashi back to where the fighting is thickest.

By now, the chunin are familiar enough with him that they don’t question his command. He’s good at this part. At giving orders, and putting himself at the centre of strategic manoeuvres to reduce the risk of failure. There is a reason he managed to advance through the ranks so quickly. He’s learned important things about how to ensure his comrades return home.

It helps to know that Rin is a medic. In battles as heavy as this, she will be placed in the medical tents, tending to the wounded. Her chance of seeing combat is rare.

That thought comforts him until one of his subordinates lets him know that, as always, he has somehow managed to be wrong.

He doesn’t hesitate this time. He summons his dogs. They know Rin’s scent well enough that they catch her trail easily. They lead him inside Kiri’s borders. It strikes him how different this is from his first mission as a jōnin, fighting Iwa. Kirigakure isn’t known for taking prisoners. They’re known for taking lives.

Mercifully, Rin is still breathing when he finds her. He doesn’t have time to celebrate that, because he is desperately trying to find a way to get them to safety.

Their reunion has lasted mere minutes when Rin asks him to do the impossible.

“Kakashi, you have to kill me.”

His heart drops out of his chest. “I can’t do that. I promised Obito I’d protect you.”

Rin is unyielding. “Whatever ritual they performed on me has made me a danger,” she says with absolute certainty. “They’ve sealed something in me. At this rate, I might end up attacking Konoha. The village is more important than my life!”

It’s a sound argument, and a year ago, one that would’ve convinced Kakashi. But he will not be his father, forced to choose between village and friend. He will not be himself at Kannabi Bridge, leaving a piece of himself in a foreign land, irretrievable. _He will save both._

“I want to see the seal.”

Rin shakes her head. “There isn’t time. Our pursuers won’t let up until we’re right near Konoha’s borders.”

Kakashi is acutely aware of this fact. But if the small bits of knowledge he’s picked up from their teacher about seals can keep Rin alive, he’s willing to risk it. “Please, Rin.” It’s both a supplication and a demand at once.

It’s a testament to how much has changed between them that Rin slows. While she’s always been kinder than he is, she’s also always had a cooler head in a crisis. It might be the medic in her, but Kakashi supposes it’s just Rin. _She should’ve been the jōnin,_ he thinks, as their feet land on a nearby tree.

Rin lifts her shirt, and what Kakashi sees knocks the wind out of him. “I recognize it.”

“What do you mean? ”

“Our last mission. It’s the same mark. At least, this is what it looked like before Minato-sensei modified it. If I could replicate what he did to me on your seal, we could keep you stable until we can get help.”

He can tell that she believes in his claims, but her expression does not comfort him. “We might not have enough time for that. They’re closing in on us.”

Taking a deep breath, he tries tries to earn his rank as an officer. “Then we’ll stand and fight. But you have try to stay alive until then.”

“Kakashi—”

The trees thin, and he takes the opportunity to reach for Rin’s wrist. “We’re not losing any more teammates.”

“Fine. But if you can’t fix me, then you’ll have to—”

As they land in the clearing, Kakashi shifts into a fighting stance. “It won’t come to that.”

* * *

Several things happen all at once.

The forces surrounding them are taken out in one fell swoop by something his gaze is too narrow to see. The face of an enemy ninja is replaced by that of Rin, too late for him to deactivate his chidori. Kakashi feels a hard knock against his side. He sees a ghost. His left eye burns.  

 _No,_ he thinks, as if that changes anything.

“Kakashi,” Rin says, with his hand in her chest. Obito stands beside her, scarred and bearing an eye whose tomoe have melded together. He is shouting.

“Obito,” he says, wondering if this is what it’s like to die of chakra exhaustion.

“Help me save her,” Obito demands, and the hand that grabs Kakashi’s arm is startlingly, unequivocally solid.

 _“Obito,”_ he says again. And then, “Rin!”

He missed her heart. Obito’s push had been enough to shift Kakashi’s aim, but that isn’t saying much. His lightning has still carved out a place in her chest, and he knows the minute he moves, she will lose blood.

He staggers, and Rin falls forward into his hand, and then away. Obito catches her on her way down, and Kakashi’s bloody hands immediately seek to put pressure on her wound, despite barely being able to keep his eyes open. To his surprise, the wound begins to close beneath his hand. “Medical jutsu?” Obito asks him.

Kakashi shakes his head. “I’m not doing this. I think she is.” He looks at her stomach, and then amends, “ _It_ is. What they put inside her.”

Obito’s head drops forward in relief. “Whatever it is, it’s saving her life.” He reaches out a hand to touch Rin’s cheek, and it passes through her.

“Are you really here?” Kakashi asks, finally taking a good look at Obito. He certainly looks different than he has when he’s appeared in Kakashi’s sleep. His hair is longer, with a single streak of grey in it, and most of his body is wrapped in some sort of white vines. But Kakashi is so tired. Perhaps seeing Obito is some kind of defence mechanism.

“Of course I’m here,” Obito says. This time he tries to shove Kakashi’s shoulder, and again his hand moves through it as if there’s nothing there at all. “How am I doing that?”

Kakashi looks at him in disbelief. “You expect me to know? I don’t know anything about ghosts!”

Obito splutters. “I’m not a ghost, Bakashi! I pushed you, didn’t I? How would I do that if I wasn’t here, alive?”

“I watched you die,” Kakashi says. His throat catches as he speaks.

His friend shakes his head. “You watched me get crushed. I made it out of that cave and into a different one. This old man, Madara, kept me there. I couldn’t leave until now.”

 _“Uchiha_ Madara?” asks Kakashi.

“That’s what he said.”

Unable to keep the sarcasm from his voice, Kakashi replies, “Oh, well if the man who kidnapped you and held you in a cave said so—”

Obito opens his mouth to retort, but something else catches his eye. “Rin’s wound is healed,” he says, relieved.

Kakashi cannot bring himself to feel the same sense of relief, because he’s reminded of their most pressing problem. “Her seal, it’s… I need to fix it. They made it wrong, and Kiri’s weapon is going to escape.”

As Kakashi speaks, he is already reaching for one of his own wounds, so he can use his blood to mimic Minato’s seals as best he can. He pushes Rin’s shirt upward for access to their problem. Clumsily, he lifts up his own, too, as a reference point.

Obito looks at him like he’s never seen him in his life. “Did they… capture you too?”

Kakashi shakes his head. “My seal just appeared on a mission. There were no traces of an enemy.”

“Then, Kakashi, she’s your—”

Kakashi tries to keep his hands steady as he finishes tracing them across Rin’s skin. “We’ll think about that later.”

“There’s something else,” says Obito. “Take a look at her heart.”

Though every part of Kakashi’s body protests at the idea of opening his sharingan again, he obeys Obito’s command and trains his gaze on Rin’s chest. He can see the presence of a chakra unlike Rin’s own, a dark and heavy weight that is is only just to the left of where Kakashi’s chidori struck. It is almost as ominous as the energy coming from the seal on her stomach, but it feels more concentrated, like a lightning strike instead of a storm.

“What kind of jutsu is this?” Kakashi asks Obito. Distantly, he wonders when he last deferred to Obito’s expertise. His head is too hazy for this.

“A seal, I think,” Obito says. He reaches out a hand and presses it to Rin’s chest, and when he does, black characters skirt the edge of her newly healed wound. “It’s different from the other one. Why would they need a second seal, if they’ve already put a weapon inside of her?”

Kakashi is almost disgusted by how quickly he thinks of the answer. “One seal to make her a weapon. Another to make her incapable of removing the first.”

Risking a glance at Obito, and he sees a look a fierce anger that he’s sure is mirrored on his own face. But with his sharingan still active, his eye is drawn to something else. “It’s on you too.”

“What?”

Kakashi reaches out his own hand to prod Obito’s front, precisely where he sees the disturbance. “There. Someone did it to you too.”

“That’s—” Obito’s face contorts, and suddenly, he calls out tersely, “You know something about this?”

Frowning, Kakashi replies, “I just said—”

“Not you,” says Obito. “Swirly. The thing I’m wearing.”

Kakashi can only stare incredulously when the white thick vines around his body begin to reply, “Hey, you’re Bakashi right?”

_“What the hell?”_

“He doesn’t sound that stupid,” the thing says, like it’s scolding Obito.

“This isn’t the time for—tell us what you know! I’ve been that cave the whole time, so there’s no way it’s an accident that this seal is on both me and Rin.”

“Which seal?” it asks in its lilting voice. “You all have seals on you, but there’s only one Sanbi!”

“Sanbi?!” Obito shouts.

“Consider it a gift,” it says, and Kakashi is sure it would be grinning if it had a mouth.

Kakashi scoffs, shifting closer to Rin by instinct. “Kiri doesn’t give Konoha gifts.”

“You really should be getting back now, Obito,” it sing-songs. “You and Madara have a lot to talk about.”

“I’m not going anywhere without Rin and Kakashi,” Obito says firmly. “Did Madara do this? Put this seal on me and Rin? Was this part of his plan? I know he wants my help. Is he trying to control me through my friends?”

“I’ll be leaving,” the creature says, unfurling itself completely from Obito’s body. It becomes apparent how much smaller Obito looks without it. It reforms, and Kakashi can see why Obito called it ‘Swirly.’ “Madara’s not going to be happy. He really hoped you’d be the one to talk to Nagato.”

“Who’s Nagato?” Obito asks, but the creature has already disappeared into the earth.

Kakashi can’t bring himself to care. Motives known or not, they need to act. “Obito, you have to remove Rin’s other seal. Your hand passed through us earlier, didn’t it?” he asks, without needing an answer. “You can reach in and destroy it.”

“What if I hurt her?”

“You won’t.”

Kakashi’s vision starts to fade as Obito moves into place. Obito’s face is twisted in concentration, and then horrified, but Kakashi’s too dizzy to understand the motivations. He breathes heavily as he tries to retain consciousness.

Then: “I think it’s gone.”

“Good.” Kakashi’s sharingan falls shut. He falls forward onto the ground beside Rin. Obito calls out to him, but the world is already black.

* * *

 When Kakashi wakes up, he is in a hospital bed. Obito sits at his feet, still wearing the same grimy robe as before.

“You usually look less weird in my dreams,” says Kakashi, sitting up.

Obito laughs at him. “Have you looked in a mirror?” he asks with a disbelieving grin. “And hey, you dream about me, and you think _I’m_ the weird one?”

Kakashi opens his mouth to retort, but he’s interrupted by his room’s door opening. If it were anyone else, he’d be annoyed. The elated look on Minato’s face when he spots his students makes it worth saving their re-acquaintance for later.

“Obito,” Minato says, rushing forward and pulling the boy into his arms.

“Sensei,” Obito complains, but he doesn’t pull away from the embrace.

“I have a lot to ask you both,” Minato says, releasing him but still standing close by Kakashi’s bed. “But I know you’re tired, so I’ll save the questions for the morning. For now, I have some good news.”

“You did well,” Minato tells Kakashi and Obito proudly. “The seal is holding. I’ve added some of my own touches to it, and with that, it should keep our... uninvited guest in check permanently.”

Kakashi’s eye narrows at the last word. “Permanently. So she’ll—”

“Be like Kushina, yes,” Minato finishes, giving his student a warning look. “Kushina and Jiraiya-sensei are trying to figure out if the second seal had any lasting effects. We also have two medics consulting to make sure she’s as safe as possible.”

“Shouldn’t you be in there with them?” Obito asks, and Kakashi nods.

“I will be, in a moment,” Minato replies. He smiles at his students. “But I thought, as Rin’s saviours today, you’d want to have a status update.”

“Thank you, sensei,” they chime in together. Kakashi stares at Obito for a moment. All three of them share a moment of quiet.

“What exactly happened with the second seal?” Kakashi asks, suddenly recalling his last moments of consciousness.

“Obito removed it.” Minato informs him, looking at Obito a little strangely. “How exactly that happened is something we should talk about tomorrow too. There was a little damage to the tissue surrounding her heart, but she’ll make a full recovery.”

Some of the tension finally leaves Kakashis’ body.

“The medics already looked at Kakashi when he was admitted, but I want you to see someone too, Obito. We’ll be looking at your seal next, but before we do, we want to make sure you’re fit enough to have it removed.”

Obito’s expression is nothing short of reluctant. “I’ll be fine. My body heals on its own now.”

Minato is dumbstruck for a moment. With great difficulty, he says, “Then do it for my sake. I need to know you’re really okay.”

“I managed before,” Obito says, a little rebellious. Kakashi nudges him with his foot. “Alright, alright. I’ll see a medic.”

Minato’s hand ruffles Obito’s long hair. “Someone will be in to check on you both in half an hour.”

* * *

When the medic arrives, Obito can feel Kakashi’s gaze on him. He hasn’t been near a mirror in months, but he knows that he looks much different than the boy his teammate knew.

The medic, a Hyuga, offers him to be examined elsewhere, but Obito refuses. He might as well get used to people looking at his new body.

“It’s mokuton,” Obito explains to the man who inspects him. “I don’t know how exactly, but it doesn’t work like normal tissue. It regenerates on its own. That’s why I’m not really injured. I heal.”

“There are probably a few people who’d like to get a look at you,” his examiner remarks.

Obito snorts. “Tell them to get in line.”

The medic offers no further comments on the mokuton, but he does scrawl several notes on a chart. Obito tries not to flinch as the medic’s hands prod the line bisecting his torso. “Is that…?” Kakashi asks, eyes wide.

“It’s only ever been half,” says Obito. The imitation of fuinjutsu, like the one on both of his teammates, merely black marks on his skin. But Obito’s seal isn’t complete like Kakashi’s. His is barely marked enough to recognize it as a seal. His could not have saved Rin’s life.

Kakashi doesn’t say anything after that. He sits uncharacteristically quiet through his own examination. Obito can’t pretend to know what he’s thinking.

They are saved from having to talk about it afterwards when Kushina appears in the doorway. “Rin’s not conscious yet, but a little birdie told me they’ll allow visitors for a short time.”

Both boys scramble to get out of bed, and Kushina grabs Obito by his sleeve as he tries to exit. “Not so fast. There’s something you need to do first.”

“What’s that?” he asks.

She hugs him so hard he’s lifted clear off the ground. “You are such a brave little moron,” she says, with tears in her eyes. “I thought you were gone for good, y'know!”

“I will be if you crush my internal organs,” Obito wheezes.

Kushina lets him go, but whacks him on the head. She dotes on him the whole walk to Rin’s room, and Obito gets the feeling he’s going to be coming around to his sensei’s house for dinner every night for a month. She tells Kakashi to come too, and to Obito’s surprise, he agrees.

Obito is startled by how normal Rin looks when they open the door. She is out of her bloody clothes and tucked in with a hospital issue blanket. If he hadn’t known what happened to her, he might think she was taking a nap.

“Hi, Rin,” he says, not knowing if she can hear him. “We’re glad you’re okay.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t faster,” Kakashi tells her in a whisper.

He and Kakashi hover by her bedside, uncertain. When her hand shifts out of her covers, Obito contemplates reaching for it, but Kakashi’s hand is there first.

Kakashi freezes. He stares at Obito with panic in his gaze, and then drops Rin’s hand. But Obito has already seen.

He saw Kakashi’s expression when he held her hand. It’s the same stupid, unfocused look that he has levelled at Rin since he met her.

 _You_ were _fast,_ Obito thinks, not lacking in irony.

* * *

 In an impressive show of self-restraint, Obito manages to hold himself back from talking about it until the next day. It probably helps that for the better part of the evening, he has a team of people shuffling around his chest and extracting a seal that gives him more questions than answers. After they are discharged, he spends the night at Kakashi’s place. After breakfast, when they are both sitting on Kakashi’s bed, he finally brings it up.

“So,” says Obito, with an air of resignation. “You like Rin too, huh?”

Kakashi doesn’t know what else to do but nod. If his actions hadn’t given him away, he’d still owe Obito the truth regardless. He leans back and folds his arms.

“That’s good,” says Obito, looking away. He directs his gaze at one of the photographs on his wall. “Rin’s always liked you.”

A flush rises to Kakashi’s cheeks, and the honest acknowledgement of those feelings is so unfamiliar that it makes him all the more red. “I know,” he admits. And then frowns, because he hasn’t always deserved it.

Obito sucks in a breath, and when he turns back, Kakashi sees a completely different expression in his face. He’s sporting the kind of look he always does when he’s about to say something he thinks is important. “I think you should go for it.”

“Go for what?”

Obito shoves his shoulder. “You and Rin.”

Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi asks, “What are you saying?”

Obito clears his throat. “I’m saying I’m okay with stepping aside.”

“‘Stepping aside,’” Kakashi repeats dubiously.

“Yeah, that’s what I said, Bakashi. Maybe we both had a mark from Rin, but mine wasn’t complete, and she only has feelings for you. It’s some kind of cosmic mix-up.” Obito seems to be gaining steam as he plows through his speech. It’s hard to sense a long enough pause to interrupt. “If you like Rin and Rin likes you, there’s not a lot of room for me in that picture, right? So if I’m what’s holding you and Rin back, then stop it.”

Kakashi scoffs. He hooks a leg around Obito’s knee to make him land sideways on the bed, mostly to pull him off of his high horse. “All that time learning new techniques didn’t make you any less of an idiot, huh?”

“Hey!”

Kakashi stares down at him without an ounce of contrition. “It’s not me and Rin. It’s me and _you_ and Rin. I don’t care if that seal was supposed to be some kind of soul mark, and I don’t care what it means that we both had it. It’s going to be three of us, Obito. I won’t let that change.”

Obito picks himself back up. “How did you get so sentimental?”

Kakashi shrugs. “Bad influences,” he says, with a pointed look.

* * *

Rin can’t stop staring at him.

He’d been expecting the stares, from everyone else. No shinobi ever returns from missing that long. He is repeatedly dragged in front of different audiences so they can make their assumptions about what kept him away. First, Minato and (despite his teacher’s best efforts) the council of elders, who take his claims of having met Madara as some kind of personal offence. Then, the Uchiha clan, who interrogate him about when he will be taking his eye back from Kakashi. (“It’s a non-refundable gift,” he says, and a younger boy with curly hair giggles.) He is even dragged before a group of his own peers, all eager to know his story, assuming it’s far more glamorous than it is. All of these are uncomfortable, but expected.

But Rin’s stare is the one that makes his heart leap. _“I’m always watching you,”_ she’d once said, but he hadn’t truly believed her. He isn’t Kakashi, with hands as quick as his mind. He’s far less compelling to look at.

Still, as lacklustre as he is, she watches him when he visits her in the hospital. And she watches him when they eat lunch together when she’s released.

“You’re looking at me like I’ve grown a new head,” Obito tells her, blushing.

Rin quirks her lips at him. “Technically, I’m the one who grew a new head. Or at least, a few tails.”

Obito gapes at her. “Are you allowed to joke about that?”

She shrugs, staring at her tea. “It’s my problem now. Who else is there to joke about it, if I don’t?”

“It's supposed to be a secret, isn't it?” Obito says, lowering his voice. Minato had given them a brief idea of the level of political fallout they would be subject to face with the Sanbi changing hands.

“I know,” she agrees, sighing. “I’m just hoping that if I say it enough… I’ll understand what it means. Everything feels so out of place.”

“Are you okay?” Obito asks.

She pushes the food around on her plate. “I’ve been better.”

“Sorry, stupid question.”

“It wasn’t stupid, it was nice. An Obito kind of question,” Rin says fondly. “We missed you, you know.”

Obito’s brows draw together. “A lot of people have been telling me that. I think this might be the first time I believed it.”

Rin stares out at the restaurant patrons as if they might suddenly jump up and accost them. And maybe they would, Obito thinks, if they knew what they were. “We’re suddenly a lot more important than we used to be. Kakashi was always the strong one. But now you and I have things about us that other people want. Even if not everyone knows, we’re going to be treated differently. These things have a way of carrying across the village.”

Frowning, Obito remembers the look on the council members faces when they learned he had the mokuton. “I think I’ve already started to notice that.”

“Well, even if we are something different to the village now, we’re still the same to each other.” She nods at him.

“You sound like Kakashi,” says Obito. For the first time, that sentence isn’t an insult.

“Good,” she says firmly. “I mean it. We get to decide what we’re fighting for, and how we do it. No matter how many people want a say in it.”

Obito looks at his hand. _Madara’s hand,_ he thinks sourly. “I want to believe that. I don’t want anyone else prodding at me.”

Raising an eyebrow, Rin teases, “Not even me and Kakashi?”

“You, maybe. Kakashi has bony fingers.”

There’s a light in Rin’s eyes that he hasn’t seen since he returned. “He does, doesn’t he?”

Obito smiles widely for the first time in a long while.

* * *

Kakashi’s certain that with all his team back in the village, Minato’s mind is constantly worrying about how they are adjusting. It can’t be easy for him to have his team back together, and yet be unable to check in on them because he must check on the village. So their teacher invites his students over under the guise of a team bonding exercise and force them to sleep.

Kushina has already gone to bed, but Minato lingers in the living room, staying near the teens sprawled across the floor. As if he is afraid they might somehow be taken again.

Kakashi closes his eyes and makes his breath even for Minato’s sake, but he isn’t the least bit tired. He wants nothing more than to keep moving. The condition on his arms has finally started to fade, and he’s certain that means something he’s not ready to face. The events of the past few weeks have brought them to a standstill, and it’s not helping ease Kakashi’s nerves.

“I guess this is a bad time.” A man’s voice. Jiraiya.

“They’re asleep. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I know you wouldn’t have come this late if it weren’t urgent.”

“It’s Ame.” This is said heavily, and Kakashi’s sure the announcement that follows will not be good news.  “You remember my students? Yahiko, Nagato, Konan? They’ve been leading peacemaking efforts in their village. Until yesterday, when a battle broke out between them and their village leader, Hanzō. From what I understand, there didn’t appear to be any survivors.”  

“I’m sorry, Jiraiya-sensei,” Minato says quietly. “It’s not the same, but I’ve felt what it’s like to lose a student.”

Jiraiya sighs. “It’s my fault for not doing more for them. But I didn’t come here for you to listen to me mourn.”

“Sensei?”

“In the aftermath of the battle, someone with a watchful eye informed me he spotted Konoha weapons among the fallen shinobi. I know we don’t have any weapons deals with Ame, so I had to wonder why they’d be there at all.”

“Recovered weapons from the battlefield, perhaps?”

“These were too well-kept for that. Now, I think there are very few ways in which a mission for Konoha’s shinobi could get authorized without the knowledge of the Hokage.”

Minato's voice lowers and is tinged with resentment. “Danzō.”

“The war is winding down. Maybe Danzō wants to ensure that there’s a land rife with internal conflict for Konoha to take as a war spoil.”

Another huff of breath. This one angry. “We have no claim to Ame’s lands. If you're right, what he wants would be expansionism that the other nations won’t take lightly. He could delay the war’s end by years.”

“Do you think he’s the sort of man to care about that? Now, these are all merely theories. I’ll be looking for answers on my end, but I think you should too.”

A pause. “You want me to get eyes in Danzō’s ANBU. In Root.”

Jiraiya doesn’t say anything, but Kakashi assumes he is nodding. “It wouldn’t be easy. He only goes after particular types. Usually young, prodigious kids, who won’t be missed by their family. Not very common.”

“Jiraiya,” says Minato; a warning.

Kakashi’s eyes open, and he notes that from this angle, Jiraiya can tell that he is awake. But the man doesn’t point it out. There is more sadness in his expression than Kakashi expected, based on his tone.

“I hope you find the right way to do this, but I’m beginning to think there isn’t a right way,” Jiraiya says, with a great and heavy sigh. “I’ve told you what I know. It’s up to you what you do with it.”

He exits through the window. Minato lets out a noise of frustration, and walks tensely out into the hall outside his apartment.

Kakashi decides to take the risk. He follows.

“I’ll do it,” he says, once he’s outside. Minato jumps.  

“Kakashi,” admonishes Minato. “You were supposed to be asleep.”

“Jiraiya-sama knew I was awake. It’s not my fault if he didn’t tell you.” Kakashi retorts. “If what happened in Ame really is because of Danzō's ANBU, then you need someone you trust inside ANBU to see where the members’ loyalties lie. Send me.”

“Even if that were true, you’re too young for me to ask you to take on that kind of mission.”

“Age didn’t matter when they sent me to war,” Kakashi says, and he half-regrets the pain in Minato’s eyes at the blow. “I’ve seen enough people get hurt, sensei. If there’s a way to stop it before it happens, I need you to let me do it.”

“I’m going too,” says Obito, appearing in the doorway.

“To _ANBU?_ ” asks Kakashi incredulously. Minato looks like he’s going to pass out.

“To Ame. I heard that name, Nagato, from Madara’s lackey. I couldn’t have been his only plan, after all that time. I think he has something to do with what’s happening there too. I have to go. This could be the only way we prevent another war. Or worse.”

“Worse than a war?” Minato repeats, narrowing his eyes.

Obito doesn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“I’m not staying either.” Rin’s presence narrows the already cramped corridor.

“Were _none_ of you asleep?” cries Minato, with all the frustration of a man who has spent far too much time among teenagers. “Please, tell me why I should send _two_ of my students on a mission into an Ame on the verge of civil war with such little pretext.”

“I don’t want to go to Ame. I want to go to Kiri.”

Kakashi and Obito immediately start protesting. “They put a _bij_ _ū_ inside you,” yelps Kakashi, while at the same time Obito says, “If they take the Sanbi back you’ll _die_ , Rin!”

Rin straightens her back, and the obstinate expression on her face is one that Kakashi is always caught between despairing of and admiring. “They won’t be able to take it back. Not once Kushina teaches me how to handle it.”

Obito gapes. “You think it’s that easy? I’ve barely got a grip on the mokuton, and it doesn’t have _a mind of its own._ ”

“You said yourself Madara had a back-up plan in place, Obito,” Rin says, and holds a hand up when he tries to interrupt. “The creature that brought you here implied the Sanbi was Madara’s gift, not Kiri’s. That means Kiri isn’t governing itself right now. If this is another part of his plan, what better way to find the truth than bargaining with something the villagers would want back?”

 _“You are not bait,”_ says Kakashi, chagrined.

“The only orders I’m giving you three tonight,” Minato says, in a voice that suggests he’d like to tear his hair out, “are to go to bed.”

Rin and Obito seem to realize they’ve pushed their teacher enough for one night, and shuffle back into the apartment. Kakashi lingers by the door. “Sensei,” he urges.

Minato closes his eyes, expression shuttered. “I know, Kakashi,” he responds, sounding worn.

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Sloane, in whose livestream I first mentioned this ridiculous idea, and without whom I might've never been able to write Obito in a romantic situation. He truly is bananas. 
> 
> Minor dialogue references to Chapter 244 and Naruto Shippuden episode 371, in Obito and Rin's respective "deaths." This story will likely come to you in two parts.


End file.
